Growing Number Of Illness Cases Linked To Wingate And Billingham Sites

Specialist lawyers representing victims of major illness outbreaks in the UK and abroad are urging Public Health England (PHE) and environmental health authorities in the north-east to work quickly to investigate a suspected E.coli outbreak linked to a chain of butchers in the region.

PHE has stated that 12 cases of illness have now been reported, with several of them being hospitalised, and that the victims include children between 8 and 14.

The illness outbreak has been linked to Robinsons butchers outlets in both Wingate, County Durham and Billingham, Teesside, with experts confirmed many of those who fell ill had eaten food purchased at the sites.  However, experts have stressed that investigations into the source of the illness are continuing.

A deep clean of the premises has been undertaken and Robinsons has also discard all of its ready-to-eat food prepared before July 16th. Anyone who bought food from the shops since June 25th has been advised to not eat the products, and to throw them away.

Irwin Mitchell’s specialist public health lawyers, who have vast expertise in helping victims of major outbreaks to gain answers and access to vital financial support to aid their recovery, have welcomed the steps taken to minimise the risk of further cases occurring.

The experts notably act for hundreds of people affected by illness problems linked to Toby Carvery’s Exeter Arms pub in Middlemoor earlier this year, as well as others who fell ill as a result of outbreaks in 2014 linked to restaurants such as The Real China restaurant in Eastleigh.

Expert Opinion

“It is very worrying to see news of this outbreak emerge, and that the number of those thought to be affected is continuing to rise. <br/> <br/>“Through our work on similar outbreaks, we understand how such problems can have a lasting impact on victims and can often lead to them developing long-term conditions from which they may never fully recover. This in turn can cause significant disruption in their lives and mean they require time off work or support from friends and family as they seek to recover. <br/> <br/>“It is positive to see that steps are being taken to minimise the risk of further cases emerging, but it is clear that all of the victims affected and their families will want answers regarding the cause of the outbreak and ultimately how they came to be affected. <br/> <br/>“As with any case of this nature, as much information as possible must be gathered with the aim of – where possible – learning lessons which will seek to reduce the likelihood of similar cases occurring in the future.” Amandeep Dhillon - Partner